Posts published by “Elise Cox”

It has been two months since Ukiah police officers arrested Matt LaFever, a high school teacher and journalist, on suspicion of misdemeanor child annoyance or molestation. No criminal charges have been filed. The delay in…

Journalist and high school teacher Matt LaFever has filed a lawsuit against the State of California and the Ukiah Police Department, according to court sources familiar with the filing. LaFever was arrested on a misdemeanor…

The City of Fort Bragg first contracted with the Ukiah Police Department for dispatch services in 2009. Since then, the initial five-year contract has been renewed three times, most recently in July 2024. Officials say…

Marianne Black and her two daughters were just leaving the beach when they heard someone scream for help. They’d been coming to this beach for years, driving over from Ukiah to visit the tide pools…

It started as a routine evening out at a neighborhood bar. It ended with four friends booked into jail in Ukiah — three of them facing felony charges and lives that suddenly seemed just a…

An alleged kidnapping and sexual battery reported in October in Fort Bragg unraveled into something entirely different when the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office reviewed the case ahead of a preliminary hearing. Instead of a…

While President Donald Trump’s low approval ratings have recently made national headlines, his worst polling numbers still exceed the approval rating Mendocino County voters give their own Board of Supervisors. That’s according to a new…

For small, rural communities, hiring for high-profile positions of trust—like police chief—presents unique challenges. Information — confirmed or not — can race through coffee shops, supermarket lines, farmers’ markets and Facebook groups outpacing official announcements.…